guErRilla candy is Travis Hay's one-stop destination for opinionated and informed musing about all things music, ranging from noteworthy news bits about the local scene to rants about how the national music media gets more things wrong than it does right.

Chinese Democracy coming this month?

Apparently, according to a report by NME that cites Slash, the long awaited “Chinese Democracy” album by Axl Rose and whoever he has rounded up to be in Guns N’ Roses, will be out this month. Well, I’ll believe it when I see it and then I will decide whether or not I actually care about it.

Axl’s latest version of GNR started its 2002 tour at the Tacoma Dome after he cancelled the band’s Vancouver show which was supposed to open the tour the night before. I believe our gentle friends to the north actually rioted when the show was cancelled. It’s got to take a lot to make Canadians riot.

However, that wasn’t the first Canadian riot for Axl. Roughly 10 years prior to the TDome show fans in Montreal rioted when he refused to take the stage after James Hetfiled of Metallica caught himself on fire during Metallica’s opening set. What can I say; the man has mad skills when it comes to pissing off Canadians.

Anyway, I was at the TDome show in 2002 and from what I can remember it was a great set and I was amazed by Buckethead’s jaw-dropping guitar skills. He is such a good guitar player that I almost forgot about the frizzy-haired chain-smoking guy who used to play with the band. I also remember the TDome was half full, which was sad since Axl actually showed up for his comeback concert and nobody seemed to care.

Now you would think Axl would be grateful for Slash spilling the beans but apparently he’s very angry and is suing him. Lawsuits are nothing new for the GNR guys since I think they have sued each other six ways to Sunday, but why would Axl sue if it wasn’t true? This all coincides with an MTV.com report of the possible return of the estranged Axl and the leak of a few demos from “Chinese Democracy.”

I’ve heard the demos and I actually sort of like them. They’re definitely not to the caliber of Appetite or the two Use Your Illuions but it’s a lot better than the crap I thought he was going to release.